Install a package using pamac vs pacman -S

I just update/ upgrade manjaro kde last week .
Today i tried to download keepass using pamac, to my surprise that pamac list out whole big list of things require update… For goodness sake, i just want to install an app.
And the end, i resolved to pacman -S to download the package…

Q1:
I am confused, why i just upgrade the whole system last week , why i am presented with whole big list of packages need upgrade in pamac ? I know this is rolling release, but that is too fast isn’t it ? or is it that i didn’t do the whole upgrade (which i doubt so, cause arch won’t run well with partial upgrade).
Is it the upgrade last week (pacman -Syu) somewhat different to pamac upgrade that it throws at me just now ?

Q2.
Do i have to use pamac to do upgrade/ update instead of pacman -Syu ? What is the different ?

Q3
how come i manage to download the package i want in pacman without having to do all the update/upgrade that pamac threw at me ? and my system still running no problem ?

Q4:
Is there way to download a package in pamac without having to go thru the update/ upgrade everytime ? like i can just install a package in pacman without having to upgrade update each time. (even i just upgraded last week).
The reason i use pamac because it is easier to locate an unknown app in pamac…

Thx

Check in the pamac settings - default is to update the system when you install a package.

Installing a package using pacman -S on a system which is not up-to-date may result in partial sync state which is unsupported.

It is your system - thus your responsibility. If you get issues from a partial sync - it is your headache.

Any help with issues requires your system to be fully updated from an up-to-date mirror.

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There wasn’t an update last week, except if you haven’t upgrade for a long time and you did it then.

And there was an update Yesterday, which would explain your PC requiring updating so soon after the previous one.

Q2:
Not everyone agrees with me, but I always recommend using pamac. It seems to take care of many things that pacman don’t.

Q3:
Downloading is not the same as installing, and I’m guessing that’s probably why.

EDIT: See @cscs’s explanation below.

Q4:
No. This would result in a partially-updated, unsupported and state and thus broken system. That’s the nature of rolling release.

Hope this answers your questions.

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The last stable update was pushed two days ago. The prior one was 3 weeks before.


pamac supports AUR updates, pacman doesn’t.


I suppose pamac enforces the no partial upgrade policy.
Installing a package without updating first is dangerous: that package and its missing dependencies are always installed using their latest version. If you use such a package with out-of-date dependencies, it may not work correctly.


As explained before, partial updates are not supported.

Thanks a lot of good info

To expand on this slightly - pamac always upgrades at the same time.
pacman does not hold your hand - you can do what you want.
But achieving the same thing (minus the AUR) is simple - you may have already seen it in certain suggestions - install using pacman -Syu PACKAGE and it upgrades at the same time. a simple -S does not.

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Thanks for reminding me and make it black and white … Now i know why some website suggested using pacman -Syu to install app.
I used to do 2 steps:
pacman -Syu
then
Pacman -S package

I just do it that way without thinking… now i know exactly what should.
Thanks.

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